CIT takes over Oakland office building after $35M loan default

CIT Group has taken over an office building with a delinquent loan in Uptown Oakland, but its new leasing agent may drop rents to draw tenants.

The New York-based financial services provider, after foreclosing on the 116,000-square-foot office property at 360 22nd Street, has enlisted Newmark to fill its floors, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

The 360 Plaza building had been owned by New York-based Brickman, which bought it in 2017 for $43.4 million, using a $35 million loan from CIT. The loan matured last year.

For the first time since the pandemic, landlords are significantly cutting asking rents to fill vacant offices in the Oakland market.

The city’s business district saw asking rents for Class A offices drop to $60.12 in the first quarter, from $63.60 per square foot late last year, a year-over-year decline of 5.5 percent, according to CBRE. 

The city’s office vacancy rate was 32.1 percent in the first quarter, according to CBRE, close to the record one-in-three empty offices in San Francisco.

The 360 Plaza building is partly leased, according to Newmark.

Unidentified sources familiar with the property told the Business Times it’s between 35 percent  and 40 percent leased, leaving 87,000 square feet available for rent.

Its offices range in size from 1,500 to 20,000 square feet, according to Newmark. Asking rents were not disclosed.

CIT, a unit of First Citizens BancShares, plans to add a new gym and other upgrades to the building less than a quarter mile from the 19th Street BART Station. 

— Dana Bartholomew